Lacrosse stick fence construction



Get. 21, 1969 J. W. PATTERSO N LACROSSE STICK FENCE CONSTRUCTION FiledDec. so, 1966 uygg 7&7 5

FIG FIGJ.

3 Sheets-Shet 1 JOHN W. PATTERSON ATTORNEY Oct. 21, 1969 Filed Dec. 30,1966 J. W- PATTERSON LACROSSE STIGK FENCE CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 2FIG .4.

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INVENTOR JOHN W. PATTERSON ATTORNEY 0 L 1969 J..W. PATTERSON LACROSSESTICK FENCE CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 30, 1966 INVENTORJOHN W. PATTERSON FIG.|I.

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,473,896 LACROSSE STICK FENCECONSTRUCTION John Wesley Patterson, 2021 Long View Court, Baltimore, Md.21206 Filed Dec. 30, 1966, Ser. No. 606,212 Int. Cl. A631) 65/12 Cl.27396 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLGSURE A lacrosse stick in which theframe is composed of molded reinforced plastic material which isunaffected by moisture and not subject to warp and which may be providedwith a core material to attain the proper weight and balance and inwhich the webbing has a main section and a separately attached andremovable fence portion spanning the open portion of the frame from thetoe portion to a point at the rear of the head section of the stick.

The present invention relates to an improvement in a racket, generallyreferred to as a stick, for playing the game of lacrosse, including theframe and laced netting positioned at one end of the frame and means forcon structing the same.

The game of lacrosse is probably the oldest of American games and theshape of the stick and the material used in the stick and the nettinghave been changed only slightly in the last hundred years. Almost allstick frames for a long time have been constructed of Canadian hickory,but this wood is getting very difiicult to obtain and wooden frames dohave certain drawbacks in that they will warp out of shape and they areeasily broken. It is with this in mind along with other improvementsthat the inventor has initiated the present invention.

An object of the invention is to provide a fence or side wall as aseparate element which may be easily and quickly removed and/ orinstalled.

While an object of the invention has been set forth, other objects, usesand advantages will become more apparent as the nature of the inventionis more fully disclosed as illustrated in the accompaninyg drawings andas pointed out in the detailed description.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the stick frame.

FIGURE 2 is a side view of one edge of the stick frame.

FIGURE 3 is a view looking at the front end of the stick frame.

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the frame portion of the stick frame.

FIGURE 5 is a view of the outside edge of the frame.

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7--7 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view taken along line 88 of FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 9 is an exploded perspective plan view of the netted portion ofthe stick.

FIGURE 10 is a view in elevation, showing the portion of the frame intowhich the removable fence is tied.

FIGURE 11 is a plan view of a modified form of lacrosse stick frame.

In referring to the drawings like and similar numbers are used to pointout like and similar parts throughout the several views.

The general shape of the stick is quite similar to the present stick nowin use and deals primarily in certain improvements to both the frame andthe laced netting. The frame of the stick is referred to generally bythe 3,473,806 Patented Oct. 21, 1969 letter A, having a handle 2, anangled back portion 3, a front portion 4 and a toe portion 6. The backand front portions 3 and 4 of the stick frame A, including the toe 6,are generally referred to as the head section of the stick.

The lacing is in two parts, a netted or pan portion B and a separatelyformed flexible side Wall, or fence portion C.

The netted portion of the netting B is fixed to the frame within thearea defined by the back 3, the front end 4 of the frame, and the fenceC. The fence extends from the toe 6 to a point 5 at the rearward portionof the head section adjacent the junction of the handle 2 and the angledportion 3 of the head.

In FIGURES l to 10 the frame is shown constructed of a reinforcedplastic material, preferably the reinforcing material is in the form oflengths of prestressed glass, or plastic fibers 7; however, thereinforcing material may take any suitable form. The preferred frame isconstructed by inserting a core 13 of a much lighter material, such asStyro Foam within the handle section of a mold and extending the fiberssubstantially through out the mold area and about and along the core.The plastic material is then introduced into the mold cavity and left toharden. After hardening, the frame is removed andv further finished asto shape and the necessary apertures for receiving the webbing aredrilled about the frame as indicated in the drawings. The core mayremain in the handle or it may be removed. However, it is not intendedthat the present invention be limited to a cored handle section, as ahandle may be constructed in solid form if desirable.

A modified form of frame is shown in FIGURE 11. The head section A ismade, or molded, separately from the handle. The head is formed with theconventional angular back portion 3', a front portion 4' and a rearwardportion 5. The separately formed handle 40 in this modification is made,or extruded, separately from the head and preferably of tubular form,but it may be made of solid material and recessed at the end to beattached to the head by receiving the portion 5" where it may beattached in any suitable manner. This construction may be utilized whenit is desired to extrude, or construct, the head and handle separatelyand affix the handle to the head later. This may be done by a suitablesealant, or by heat sealing, or by both. In this construction thewebbing may be added before the handle is attached. The head and handlein this modification may be constructed of any suitable material, e.g.,the handle may be constructed of plastic, wood, metal, such as aluminum,or of a composition material of either single or multiple layers, andthe same is true for the head. This method of construction has theadvantage that the mold for the head, if molds are necessary, may bemuch smaller and less expensive; also, the handle may be made separatelyfrom long lengths of extruded or otherwise standard stock and cut tolength and secured to the head by any suitable means, such as, by one ofthe epoxy adhesives, etc. This construction may also help to reduce theweight of a stick if a lighter stick is preferred.

The netting B is provided with cross strands 8 and longitudinal strands,or thongs 9. The cross strands are preferably directed through openings10 in the angular portion of the frame. Extending from the opening 10and about the outer lower portion of the frame are grooves 12 into whichthe strands 8 may be recessed when wrapped about the frame to preventthem from being exposed to abrasion from other sticks used by anopponent in playing the game, this is shown best in FIGURE 2. The crossstrands 8 are also wrapped about each of the longitudinal thongs 9 asthey are extended back and forth across the net area. The longitudinalthong members 9 are looped through openings 16 in the front portion 4 ofthe frame. The front portion 4 of the frame is beveled upward from itsbottom front edge toward the handle end of the frame, as shown at 4,particularly from the point of the opening 16, see FIGURE 6. This is toprevent the under portion 16' of the thong from becoming damaged whenthe end of the frame slides along the surface of the playing field toretrieve the ball, which is also used in playing the game.

The opposite ends of the thongs 9 are extended through the openings 11located at the rearward end of the head.

The fence, or flexible side wall C, is shown formed separately from theportion B of the netting, see FIGURE 9. This fence, or sidewall C, isconstructed as a separate member and generally comprises interwovenlongitudinal strands 20 and vertical strands 22; however, the fence isnot limited to this particular construction. Adjacent the bottom C ofthe fence there is provided a plurality of substantially small elongatedopenings 24. These openings are of such size and location as to receivethe ends 8' of the cross members 8, as shown best in FIGURES 9 and 10,when the fence is assembled with the netted portion B.

The fence C being a separate member is constructed independently of theremainder of the netting B, as shown in FIGURE 9, and is assembled tothe netting B and the head section of the frame as shown in FIGURE 1.The fence C is constructed preferably of laced strands secured to theframe by providing the ends of the cross strands 20 with eyelets orloops 20' and extending a thong 26 through the eyelets 20' and anappropriate hole 27 within the toe 6 of the frame, as shown in FIGUES 1and 9. The opposite end of the fence C is secured to thongs 28 and 29,as shown in FIGURE 2, which are in turn extended through appropriateholes and held therein by a knot 32 or other appropriate means at therear end of the head section. The fence is attached to the netting B byextending the looped ends 8' of the cross strands 8 through the openings24 adjacent the bottom of the fence and extending a tie member 34through the loops 8 to prevent them from being withdrawn. The tie memberis kept in place by a knot 36, or other appropriate means. The tiemember 34 may be of any suitable flexible material.

The primary reason for constructing a removable fence is that the fenceis usually the first part of the netting to need repair, and herebeforeit was necessary to remove all the netting B in order to replace thefence. With the present construction, all that is necessary to removethe fence is to snip the tie members 26, 28 and 29 and remove the loopsecuring member 34 and the fence is completely separated from thenetting B and a new fence may then be substituted with substantiallylittle effort and expense.

The fence C is replaced by placing the tie 26 through the loops 20' andthrough the opening 27 in the toe of the frame, positioning the forwardend of the fence in relation to the toe and making fast, as shown inFIGURE 1. The thongs 28 and 29, which are generally already attached tothe opposite end of the fence, are extended through openings 30 and theloop retaining member 26 is again placed through the loop ends 8 of thestrands 8 on the outside of the fence, as shown in FIGURE 1. This is aquick and convenient way to replace the fastwearing fence member. Placedadjacent the small tapered end of the netting is a stop 14. This stop isto prevent the ball from wedging between the fence and the rearwardportion of the head where the two come together.

As to the laced netting, any suitable material may be used. At presentthe most popular material for the cross member 8 is a special nyloncord. The longitudinal thongs 14 are usually of leather but here again aproper type or synthetic strap may be used. In the construction of thefence, it is quite important to have a material that has a certaindegree of rigidity, that is, enough rigidity to hold the fence on itsedge at all times. The most favorable material at the present time isbelieved to be rawhide, but there may be in the near future materialsthat may take the place of rawhide. The retaining element 34 may be madeof any suitable material such as a flexible plastic rod, rawhide,leather, etc.

While the invention has been shown and described in its preferred form,it is not intended as a limitation and the scope of the invention isbest defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A lacrosse stick having head and handle sections wherein the headsection includes an angled back portion, a front portion, a rear portionand a toe portion, comprising:

(a) a netting extending completely beneath the head section and attachedthereto;

(b) a flexible detachable woven fence positioned opposite the backportion of the frame having one end releasably attached to the toethereof by separate securing means, and its opposite end adjustablysecured to the rear of the head section;

(0) means extending along the bottom edge of the fence for attaching thelower edge of the fence to the adjacent edge of the netting.

2. A lacrosse stick as claimed in claim 1 wherein the end of the fenceadjacent the toe is attached thereto by a single securing means.

3. A lacrosse stick as claimed in claim 1 wherein the means forattaching the fence to the edge of the netting is in the form of asingle element.

4. A detachable flexible fence for a lacrosse stick wherein the stick isprovided with head and handle sections including an angled back portion,a rear portion, a toe portion and a netting extending over the said headarea in a plane with the lower edge of the head including longitudinaland cross strands, comprising:

(a) the fence being provided with a plurality of eyelets adjacent thefront end thereof for receiving means for attaching the same adjacentthe toe of the head;

(b) means adjacent the rear end of the fence for adjustably securing theopposite end of the fence adjacent the rear of the head section;

(0) the fence having a plurality of apertures adjacent its lower edgefor receiving looped ends of the cross strands;

(d) means adapted to extend along and adjacent the lower edge of thefence and extending through the said looped ends of the cross strandsfor securing one edge of the netting to the fence.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1908 Ceel 273-96 5/1950 Jay27396

